The Islamic Dilemma
Christian and Ali discuss the claim that the Bible has become corrupt.
Christian: Hi Ali, I was wondering if you have had a chance to read that John’s Gospel I gave you the other week.
Ali: I did start reading it, but I came across a number of things that I find hard to accept, like Jesus is called God in the first sentence, or the Son of God a bit later on. As a Muslim, I can’t accept that about Jesus. The Quran says that God has no partners, and Jesus is no more than a messenger.
Christian: Of course, like I said to you before, these things are clear though in the Bible.
Ali: The thing is that we are told that the Bible has been corrupted, the Quran tells us to believe in the Scriptures that came before, but unfortunately these no longer exist, the Bible does contain some things that are true, but a lot has become corrupted over time.
Christian: It’s interesting that you think that. Others have told me similar things in the past and I decided to research it a little. Two key questions I asked myself was, if the Bible has become corrupt, surely there would be some evidence of different texts with a different message existing before the 7th century… Have you come across any evidence that?
Ali: No I haven’t, what was your other question?
Christian: Well, let’s say God did allow his word to become corrupted, what would that tell us about God’s character? Could we really trust him? How do we know any text that claims to be from him, is 100% reliable and trustworthy?
Ali: Sure, I get what you are saying. But actually the Quran tells us that the Bible was corrupted and lost. Quran 2.79 tells us that Christians would write the Bible with their own hands, changing it’s text, and Quran 3.78 that they would alter the Scripture… Clearly what ever the Bible says today, the original was lost long ago…
Christian: Actually, I looked at these verses recently, and actually they don’t actually say that the Bible was corrupted, but rather at different times, those who claim to be Jewish or Christian, falsely interpret or teach the Bible. You probably read in John’s Gospel that many of the Jews in Jesus day did the same thing.
Ali: Well, I’ve not studied those verses in detail, but I will go back to them and have a look. However, surely if the Jewish and Christian scriptures were accessible when the Quran was written, the Quran would say as much, no?
Christian: It’s interesting you should say that, I was reading the 5th chapter of the Quran the other day and came across a very interesting verse: “So let the followers of the Gospel judge according to what God has sent down in it. Those who do not judge according to what God has revealed are lawbreakers.” That’s v47. If the NT was corrupt in Muhammed’s day, why would Christians be asked to judge by it?
Ali: Yes, again, I’ve not really looked at those verses before… I need to do some more research. Let me ask you this. Let’s say that the Quran does affirm the Bible in the time of Muhammed, how do you know the Bible you have, or that John’s Gospel is an accurate copy? My imam was telling us the other day that none of the Bible manuscripts agree with each other…
Christian: Well, it’s not quite like that! We have 1000s of manuscripts of the New Testament going right back to the early 2nd C, and yes, there are many differences between them. But over 99% of the differences are minor, like spelling differences, or clear mistakes that are easy to resolve. The other differences that the experts debate over, don’t affect any core teaching of Christianity. It’s clear that the text has been preserved to this day.
Ali: So you believe that the Bible is trustworthy?
Christian: I do, but let me ask you a question, do you believe the Bible is the uncorrupted word of God?
Ali: Well, if I say yes, I have to address the fact that the Quran contradicts the Bible.
Christian: And if you say no, my question to you is why does the Quran affirm the Torah and the Gospel like in 5:47?
Ali: I see your point… That is quite a dilemma!!